Now Is Your Time
by Fauna
Summary: Hannibal is alive and watching his favorite FBI agent... This one is a tearjerker, but if I get enough feedback, I'll write an alternate ending!


Disclaimer: I do not claim rights to Hannibal Lecter or Clarice Starling, or any other character created by Thomas Harris. I am not profiting from this story.  
  
Now Is Your Time  
  
He walked quietly to her bedside, as he had done for many years, to see her again. Her pale face shined from her satin pillow, her auburn hair lay plaited about her head. She looked so happy in her sleep her lips pulled to a hint of a smile. He hoped she was happy now, it was time for her to be at peace...  
  
*Hannibal watcher her from his special spot as she cooked breakfast. She wore a black camisole and blue lounge pants, her normal bedwear. She began removing pans from the cabinets when she abruptly stopped. She leaned back against the counter and cried, unchecked tears flowing down her face.   
  
This disturbed Hannibal, he had seen her do this several times in the past week. She was obviously disturbed by something, it hurt him to see her cry like this. She had surrendered part of her soul to these tears, her blank eyes showed it all too clearly.  
  
The doctor sighed. He had been watching her for almost seven years now, without her knowledge. But now she needed to know...  
  
He exited his special spot, a small storage shed beside her duplex. He crossed the grass and pulled out the key to her door from her pocket. He had never been in her house while she was awake, but now it was time.  
  
The door opened and shut without noise. Hannibal walked three steps, three slow steps, and carefully came into view.  
  
Her sobs ceased. She stared at him in shock, mouth slightly ajar. He waited for her to attack him, go for the phone, a gun, anything. He waited in silence, with a small but warm smile on his lips.  
  
Her hands fluttered to her chest. "How- You-" Her tears resumed as reality hit her like cold water. "Hannibal..."  
  
He stood, waiting for her next move. He had gotten older, but he was still strong. He could pin her to the ground if necessary. He simply waited to see what he would have to do....  
  
She laughed through her tears as she ran across the room. He was ready to fight her down so he could talk to her, but was not ready for what she did instead. Her thin arms flew around his neck in a tight embrace. Her body shuddered as she cried his name again.   
  
He jumped slightly at this unexpected attack, but recovered immediately. A hesitant hand wrapped around her waist as the other stroked her hair.  
  
"Clarice," he whispered.  
  
Clarice continued to sob. "You came back. I can't believe you came back... I thought you were dead!"  
  
He held her protectively, remembering the year after Chesapeake. A young sharpshooter had spotted him at a park in Venice and shot him in the chest. The wound had bleed profusely, causing him to bleed almost to death. But he hadn't. Authorities assumed he had died, and Hannibal cut down on his 'special dinners' to avoid suspicion. It had been a convenient arrangement; no one was looking for him, and traveling was much easier. But he hadn't any idea that his feigned death had upset Clarice so much...  
  
"No my dear, I am alive and well. I am worried about you Clarice, please tell me why your crying jags have become so frequent?"  
  
Her tears were quiet now. "I've missed you. Life is so hard, Hannibal. The bureau is my enemy, hey hate me for what I am. They've been serving me papers for the past three weeks for my 'early' retirement. They're forcing me to quit! And you were gone... I had nothing for which to live, but now," she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Now, you're alive."  
  
She hugged him tighter. "I didn't know, wouldn't admit it, but I loved you seven years ago. Even before that, since we first met, and I will love you till my dying day. I want to be with you forever Hannibal, I don't want to risk losing you again. Can we leave now, please, just leave this place and never look back?" The tears shone bright in her pale eyes, eyes that sparkled with hope and honesty.  
  
Hannibal was happily surprised at her question. He pulled back slightly to look at her sweet face, to make this moment more real. "If this is want you truly want, then I cannot refuse you. I've always love you, and cannot imagine a better life than spending the rest of my days with you."  
  
Her face shone brilliantly as she began to cry happy tears. She leaned slowly into him, ready to kiss him for the first time in seven years...  
  
The front door slammed open. "FREEZE! FBI!! Hands up, now!"  
  
The startle couple jumped back before their lips had met. There, in Clarice's doorway, were the two men who had been serving her dismissal papers for the past couple of weeks, guns drawn and cocked. "We saw you come in, Lecter, the game's over. Hands up or we'll shoot!"  
  
Quicker than humanly possible, Hannibal pushed Clarice aside, Harpy drawn. He darted at the men as two gunshots rang out.  
  
Hannibal rammed the Harpy into one man's throat while he snapped the others neck in the crook of his arm. It was over as quickly as it had begun.  
  
He turned to Clarice, maroon eyes widening when he saw her. She lay on the floor in a puddle of blood with a gun in her hand. He knelt beside her as she breathing became ragged.   
  
"Clarice... why did they shoot at you?"  
  
She shuddered violently as he touched the wound in her stomach. "They- they saw me- go for the gun. Tried to-" she coughed a little, spraying blood on her lips in the process. "-distract them. Think I hit one...."  
  
Hannibal began to lift her from the ground, but she shook her head. "No, I'm al- already dead."  
  
Hannibal felt the tears spring from his eyes. "No Clarice, I just found you. I will find a hospital-"  
  
She began losing the color in her face as the pool of red grew larger. "No time... Hannibal... I love you."  
  
Clarice motioned for him to lean down to her with her fingers, and they kissed their first kiss in seven years.  
  
Her lips became slack as Hannibal pulled away, tasting her blood on his lips. He looked into her eyes through his hot tears, and saw that their first kiss was also their last.   
  
Hannibal lay his head on her now still chest, tears coursing down his face. He watched her face in her new death, and sobbed for the love they had shared and lost.*  
  
Hannibal felt a tear on his cheek as he lay a single rose on Clarice's hands. She did look peaceful in her rosewood coffin, her eternal bed. 'She died knowing I loved her,' he thought. 'She died with a kiss.'  
  
More tears came as Hannibal turned from the coffin and walked out of the Luthern Church. As he opened the door to his car, he saw a beautiful cardinal perched on his hood. It was not a brilliant red, but more auburn, like Clarice's hair. Hannibal watched as the bird lifted into the air.  
  
The tears dried on his cheek, waiting for the onslaught that threatened to flow. He saw the bird as his Starling, leaving him forever. But it was her time. "That's right, Clarice," he said, "now's your time. Fly, fly, fly..." 


End file.
